How do you preserve the history of a culture of people? That
challenge is confronting Lonnie Bunch — and he welcomes
it.

In an
address here, the founding director of the Smithsonian’s
National Museum of African-American History and Culture discussed
his transition from
president and CEO of the Chicago Historical Society
to developing a cultural attraction in the nation’s capital. The museum
will be located
on the National Mall, adjacent to the Washington Monument.

Bunch said it will
be a place to remember Martin Luther King, Sojourner Truth, Ralph Metcalfe
and Harriet Tubman, “but it’s also a place to remember
the names of the unknown, the unnamed slave who made sure the field did not
break her strength. Names we will never know.” He added: “I want
to create a museum that people will remember. It’s crucial to us as Americans
to remember.” Bunch’s visit was sponsored by the Department of
History and the Helen Way Klingler College of Arts and Sciences.